AM: MMA class. Worked "light contact" MMA with J~. That's a euphemism for "don't punch full power" but otherwise full bore. Did okay, mostly, but ate and gave a lot of punches. Lots of good practice on the clinch, punch-to-clinch, level changes, and striking on the ground. Good stuff.

***

One thing I like about J~ is he's always able to go the same level as me. We can go hard without going nuts, and get in good training. Plus he takes advice well, so if I feel him doing something sub-optimal I can tell him and he'll adjust, making me work that much harder to counter the next time. We went at least a full hour without real breaks, and then more slowly for 20 minutes before we really had nothing safe left in the tank. Great training day.

HICT was a good idea, but I forgot to put my water next to me. Bad idea. With the heat wave coming through, and the vest on, I was sweating like crazy. I ended up needing to stop to get water just to think about continuing. Next time I'll be more ready.

AM: MMA class. Worked mostly with C~, who is getting ready for a fight, and some work with B~ (who is coming back after a layoff) and LK~ (who knows all my moves even if he can't counter all of them). Good, hard class.

Calf Raise - the goal is to keep going until 200, then drop back to 100 and add weight. This is endurance more than anything else, but I also know I can do them without stressing my knees, and ever little bit helps.

Late Afternoon: Burmese Boxing Class. Did one-twos, and worked on my distance w/D~, a woman whose name I forgot, and Phil.

***

I really have a bad habit of fighting in the danger zone - where I'm too close to stuff a takedown but too far to clinch. It's a vision thing - I can't see very far without my glasses, so I tend to fight where things are clear. Like in kendo, I need to trust what I see and learn to attack from further out and adjust my targeting as I come in. I can do it, it's just correcting my sloppy habit.

AM: MMA class. Worked ground with S~ and LK~, some pad holding with J-L.

***

Again, I largely owned LK because I'm a bigger version of his exact same game. But we worked a sweet compression lock last week and I had to work very hard to stay out of it. I also failed to fall for a trick while putting a sub on him - I was choking him with shoulder pressure and suddenly his arm was out, vulnerable to an arm bar. I knew it was a lure, so I ignored it. He was hoping I'd go for it, relieve the pressure, and then be able to get his arm back - and he probably would have, too, so I am glad I trusted I was in proper position to finish the choke. It's cool for me to train with him because I can really get my moves and ensure I'm doing them correctly, yet I had to keep working hard to stay just ahead of him.